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Skins are divided into areas that act as the surface area of the character (for example, the front head area, left leg area, etc.). A skin will only allow solid color; transparency is not allowed on the skin file except on the second layer, which is transparent by default; playing offline, pixels can be left free resulting in "holes" in the skin. If a skin with transparent pixels on the first layer is uploaded, the transparent pixels will render as black pixels in-game. The second layer can be used to give the character glasses, hats, or other accessories (even a bigger head).

A skin can also refer to other textures in the game, such as block textures, item sprites, mob skins, etc. A list of these can be found here.

It is worth noting that zombie and zombie pigmen mobs can use typical player skins (and vice-versa). Skeleton mobs can use typical player skins as well, but keep in mind that they have their skinny arms and legs. (If a skeleton mob skin is used as a player's skin, their legs and arms will not be skinny.)

In order to use the player skin for zombies and zombie pigmen, you must align it to the correct place on the .png or the texture will be broken.

A player can only change their character's skin if they have purchased Minecraft. This is done on the profile page by uploading a valid .png or .jpg image file, which will then replace the default skin.

Skins also have the option of having 3 or 4 pixel wide arms, which can be changed on the profile page as well.[1]

The steve.png and alex.png files in minecraft.jar can also be changed and replaced via a resource pack, but the effects will only be visible to players using the resource pack, and will affect all players with the default skin.

Please remove this notice once you've added suitable images to the article. The specific instructions are: Add the remaining Alex skins to the table below. + raw files. Rendering of the skins

A variety of Alex skins available in the Legacy Console Edition. Left to right: Tennis, Tuxedo, Athlete, Default, Swedish, Cyclist, Prisoner, and Boxer.

There are currently 16 default skin types (with the exception of the skin packs), 8 of which are based on the Steve model and the other 8 based on the Alex model, wearing different outfits and skin colors. The skins are available to be chosen in the 'Change Skin' area of Help & Options. There are also a few other skins with the name of Alex or Steve, but they aren't default, such as developer Alex or party Steve. The Legacy Console Edition allows transparent skins, because the player cannot create their own skins. This prevents issues with completely transparent skin users "haunting" other players. The player can add custom skins to the Legacy Console Edition via hacking; however, this will void the warranty of the console, and the player risks a ban from either Xbox Live or PlayStation Network for an illicitly modded game or console.

Skins in Default Skin Pack

Name

Image

Original

Player

Notes

Steve (Default Skin)

Player 1's Skin

The classic Steve.

Tennis Steve

Player 2's Skin

A blond Steve in a tennis outfit and a sweatband.

Tuxedo Steve

Player 3's Skin

Steve in a fancy-looking tuxedo.

Athlete Steve

Player 4's Skin

A darker version of Steve with a sleeveless top, a gold medal necklace, and track pants.

Since Pocket Edition Alpha 0.11.0, Players can choose one of the two default skins either Steve or Alex, and can apply their own custom skin. (Uses the same format as the Java edition). The player must select a valid skin image from their photo library, and will then be prompted to choose between the two main models. Players can also buy skin packs which are purchased with Minecraft Coins. Those skin packs are as follows:Norse Mythology Skin Pack, Steampunk Skin Pack, Fallout Skin Pack, Power Rangers, Chinese Mythology Skin Pack, Greek Mythology skin pack,Magic:The Gathering ,Skyrim "Strangers" Biome Settlers Pack 3 Festive Mashup 2016 skin pack, Campfire Tales, the Minecon skin pack, Villains, Biome Settlers Pack 2, Story Mode Skin Pack, Redstone Specialists, Journey To The West, Holiday Skin Pack 2015, Biome Settlers Pack 1, Halloween Costumes, City Folk, Town Folk and other community-created skin packs. The Legacy Skin Pack was also implemented in Bedrock Edition, but the player has to sign in to Xbox Live to access all the skin, it also includes five anonymous skins.

Skin Packs are available in the Legacy Console Edition and in the Bedrock Edition as downloadable content. Skin Packs add additional skins that players may choose from along with the 16 default skins (2 in Bedrock Edition) packaged with the game. They often feature characters from other video games, alongside original designs.

Many players want to have a new look, something which describes them. While you can always search the internet for a previously made skin, many players prefer to create their own.

A custom skin is a great way to personalize the player model and can be done either by using a variety of community-made skin editors, or by editing the "steve.png" file manually with an image editor like Photoshop, GIMP, Paint.net or similar image editors. The "steve.png" file can be downloaded from here. When editing the "steve.png" file manually, be sure to keep the original image dimensions and make the background of the skin (the unused pixels) completely transparent. Otherwise, Minecraft may fail to recognize the skin as intended.

Alternatively, some people find it easier to use a program, either downloadable or in-browser, which will allow them to have a live view of their character on a three dimensional model as they are editing the skin. For example, a program called Skincraft will further assist players by providing them with a wide variety of pre-made selections (such as hats, boots, sweaters, etc.), to give the skin creator exactly what they want, even if the creator has little to no artistic skill.

After making a custom skin, either by using a skin editor or by editing the "steve.png" file directly, one will still need to upload the .png file at the Skin section of the Profile page of www.minecraft.net before the skin is applied. Once completed, start up Minecraft and enjoy your new skin! Other players in multiplayer will also be able to see your skin. Note that players will not be able to see the custom skin if they are not logged in or if playing offline.

A color-coded skin template on transparent background with all faces labeled.

Another skin guide, but on a black background. For the arm and leg sections only, "right" indicates those facing outward, and "left" indicates inward.

The new skin template that will work with Minecraft version 1.8; you can create a second layer on every body part with this template.

An adaptation of the previous template, color-coded to match the appropriate faces of the skin- front, back, left, right, top and bottom. The checked areas represent the secondary layer.

A template for the new model available in the 1.8 version. It features slimmer arms. To select the new model, go to the profile page in the Minecraft website to select it.

An adaptation of the slimmer arms template, color-coded to match the appropriate faces of the skin- front, back, left, right, top and bottom. The checked areas represent the secondary layer.

Note: The 1.8 templates can be used for pre-1.8 skins on the skin server. Only the top half of the image is used, e.g. not the individual arms and legs on the bottom, and no overlay on any layer except the head. If the skins is in resource pack for 1.7, you must use the old system exactly.

All "bottom" textures (including hand and foot) have been flipped 180 degrees. It's worth mentioning that the textures were specifically flipped and not rotated because an updated texture with the bottom surface rotated as opposed to flipped may display incorrectly depending on the intended alignment with relation to the rest of the skin.

On April 1st, all skins applied to players were changed to Villager skins as an April Fool's prank, and trying to edit or change the skin will not work. Capes were still shown, however, if the user had one.

Skins have received an overhaul; right and left legs/arms can now be edited independently and the hat layer now counts for the whole body, meaning overlays can now be added on skins. This means there are now up to 3.06×1023,581 unique Minecraft skins instead of 2.29×1011,328 previously.

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